The present invention relates to apparatus for processing webs of photosensitive material, and more particularly to improvements in apparatus for transporting exposed photographic films or the like through one or more processing stations, e.g., through one or more vessels or tanks of a developing machine.
Webs of photosensitive material which must be transported through successive tanks and other units of a developing machine are normally clamped or spliced to each other, end-to-end, to form a long strip which is conveyed through the machine by pairs of advancing rolls engaging the opposite sides of the strip. If the web consists of photographic paper, its leader is normally attached to a threading tape which pulls the web through successive stations of the machine. Each liquid-containing tank of a developing machine further comprises a number of guide rolls defining a meandering path along which the web consisting of several customer films or of a roll of photographic paper is transported so as to insure that each and every portion of the web will dwell in the corresponding tank for a required interval of time. A drawback of such developing machines is that each tank must contain a substantial quantity of liquid which must be circulated, maintained at a predetermined temperature and regenerated at a substantial cost. Furthermore, the splicing of films end-to-end and/or the attachment of webs of photographic paper to threading tapes is a time-consuming operation and/or necessitates additional expenditures for complex and expensive auxiliary equipment.